The monarch of the sky steepled his fingers in anticipation. "I'm very curious as to the origin of the governor of Renhuang, as well as his strength."

At that moment, the governor of Renhuang had just made it to a small village of an alien race right by the shore.

The residents of this small village were rather similar to the merpeople, but they were different in that they had gills by their ears.

On the other hand, the merpeople didn't have such features. The villagers had deep blue skin and rather stout statures. Scales patterned their skin. Whereas the merpeople tended to look more humanoid, the villagers here looked more like fish.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Zhang Lie draped a large cloak over his body. On the other hand, Zhu's features were similar enough to those of the villagers that she didn't need a specific disguise.

Zhang Lie had already helped Zhu purchase a set of new clothes, but they were more revealing than he had expected. Her new outfit was a crop top and a short skirt made of a material that was unknown to him. It looked like swimwear, which was particularly fitting for her.

According to the villagers, it was made with a special type of seaweed, and Zhang Lie had bartered just about fifty pounds of peak-grade meat for it. 

To Zhang Lie, peak-grade meat was all but worthless—he had tons of it, literal tons, in his storage, but fifty pounds was a considerable amount for the villagers. There wasn't much food available in the sura realm, and the only races that didn't have concerns about food were ones that had established cities and farms.

Food was still rather scarce and difficult to come by in small villages, let alone anything as nutritious as peak-grade meat. The other party was astounded that Zhang Lie was willing to pay so much, but he didn't mind as long as Zhu was happy.

After she put on her new clothes, Zhu was so happy that she began to pirouette on the spot, unable to rein in her smile. After her mother had died, this was the first time she was receiving new clothes.

Zhang Lie had stored the whirlpool tyrant's body before approaching the village, and he had flown himself and Zhu over.

Whitey wasn't able to swim at a rapid pace if it had to push the whirlpool tyrant's body along, and that body was far too eye-catching. Zhang Lie even considered getting a boat, but they wouldn't be able to steer a large one, and a small one was far less useful than his wings.

A small craft wouldn't be able to survive at sea; it would be overcome by peak-grade lifeforms in no time. Of course, given Zhang Lie's strength, he had nothing to fear, but there was always the possibility of capsizing. A peak-grade lifeform swimming past or under the boat could easily create enough turbulence to cause it to flip.

When he asked Zhu for suggestions, she shook her head. "I don't know. The merpeople don't need boats..."

It was unrealistic to find a boat that could defend against a disaster-grade lifeform's attack, so what he had to do was find an appropriate soulshard instead. He was a human, and soulshards were a human-only enterprise. That was the best place for him to start.

Zhang Lie continued asking, "Have you seen any genetic lifeforms that look like boats—forget it, you haven't seen boats before."

Zhu frowned and crossed her arms. "I might not have seen boats, but my father has! He told me about them himself."

Zhang Lie reached out and rubbed her head. He was about to ask her about where she had seen these boats when cries came from the village. "A lifeform is coming, a lifeform is coming! Help!"

Zhang Lie's eyes widened. Had he found the lifeform of the monarch of stars' notes so quickly? According to the monarch of stars, it was a 'seaweed beast'. There was nothing else listed but its name. It was unlikely to be a disaster-grade lifeform, but who could say for certain?

If it were, Zhang Lie would hate himself for missing out.

A child continued to yell, "A lifeform is coming, a lifeform is coming! Help!"

The nearby villagers didn't seem to care about the child at all.

Zhang Lie walked up toward the child. "Where was this lifeform you saw?"

The child said, in exaggerated fashion, "I'm telling you, it was a frightening beast! Covered in seaweed all over, as large as a mountain—"

A middle-aged man grabbed the child from behind and yelled, "You're still here making things up and trying to swindle others!"

The child struggled to break free. "I'm telling the truth! A frightening lifeform is coming—didn't you all see how the skies lit up in red and gold last night? I bet it's because of that lifeform!"

Zhu sent a mischievous smile at Zhang Lie, but Zhang Lie's face didn't change.

The man turned to Zhang Lie and explained, "You're from elsewhere, aren't you? Don't listen to this little rascal. After his father left, he seemed to become addled in the head. He shouts and tells us daily that a lifeform is approaching—initially, we were all shocked by his claims, but as the days passed and no lifeform approached, no one would trust him anymore.

The child continued to struggle as the man continued, "We don't know what happened last night. It was as if the seas themselves were enraged, with waves pounding on our village, the skies turning gold and red... and perhaps because of all that, this brat's at it again."

The child suddenly opened his mouth and made to bite at the man, who yelped and let go. The child struck the ground with a pained grunt, but he scrambled up and ran off.

"What a rascal." The man didn't seem to mind; this wasn't his first time grappling with the child. He sighed. "Actually, he's a pitiful child himself. His father left him and his mother behind, never to return—ah, where did they go?"

When the man raised his head, he found that Zhang Lie and Zhu had vanished from his sight like a puff of smoke.

The man rubbed his eyes. "I can't be seeing things, can I?"

The child ran toward the back of the village and began to claw at the bark on a tree. "I'm not lying—the beast really does exist!"

"Can you tell me about this mysterious lifeform?" 

When Zhang Lie's voice suddenly appeared from behind, the child yelped and turned around. "When did you get here?!"

"That's not important. I want to hear more about this mysterious lifeform from you." It was trivial for Zhang Lie to follow a little kid.

The child seemed very surprised. "You believe me?"

Zhang Lie nodded. "Rather than that, it's more like I came here in search of the beast."

The child's mouth was agape.

Zhu said, "I believe you too. My father told me that there was a very strong lifeform around."

Zhang Lie turned to Zhu. "You knew? Why didn't you say anything?"

Zhu rolled her eyes. "My father told me about countless such lifeforms. How should I remember them all? I simply remembered once I got close to this village."

Furthermore, Zhu didn't know much beyond the fact that it was around this village.

The child's eyes brimmed with hope as he asked again, "Do you really believe me?"

Zhu folded her arms. "Of course!"

"No one would believe me—my father left in search of this beast. There's no way he would leave me and my mom behind!"